For best results use a tripod or put your device somewhere stable so it doesn’t move. If you can’t do that, don’t worry – you can still take great photos of fireworks.

1. Setting up

For best results you should use a tripod or have some way of keeping your device still, but if not, don’t worry – you can still take excellent handheld photos.

Setting up with a tripod

NightCap has a special long exposure mode that’s ideal for fireworks: Light Trails mode.

Light Trails mode preserves any moving lights, and fireworks will “paint” onto the photo for as long as the camera is left capturing.

First, tap the star button to show the camera tools, and turn on Light Trails mode .

Setting up for handheld photos (no tripod)

The standard camera setup works best for handheld use, so just stay with the default settings (no special camera modes active).

2. Adjusting the picture (both tripod and handheld)

Since it’s normally quite dark, the camera will automatically use slower shutter speeds and higher ISO (camera sensitivity), but when a firework goes off it’s suddenly quite bright. The result is often an over-exposed firework and/or a grainy photo because ISO is too high, and it might be out of focus as autofocusing doesn’t work as well with sudden brightness changes.

We can fix this easily with the manual camera controls.

ISO

The first step is to reduce ISO (camera sensitivity). Slide your finger down on the left hand side of the screen to reduce it as much as possible (the lowest possible ISO varies by device, but should be under 100). Lower ISO makes the photo darker as the camera is less sensitive, but it also reduces graininess (image noise).

Exposure

Once you’ve set the ISO, adjust the exposure by sliding your finger up and down on the right hand side of the screen. There’s no fixed rule to this, just adjust it until the picture looks good.

If you’re using a tripod and light trails mode, it’s best to under-expose, so the picture is a bit on the dark side.

Focus

While we’re adjusting the manual controls, let’s set the focus to 100 (infinity / distant objects) by sliding your finger to the right in the bottom half of the screen. This stops the camera from trying to refocus frequently and ensures a crisp photo.

3. Taking the photo

This part depends on whether or not you’re using a tripod, so be sure to read the relevant part:

Using a tripod and Light Trails mode

If you’re using a tripod, tap the shutter once to start the shot, then tap again to finish exposing. You can expose the shot for as long as you like, the longer you wait the more the fireworks will build up. NightCap has a live view so you can see exactly how it’s going and finish when it looks good.

Handheld (no tripod)

Taking it further

You should get some great photos by following those three steps, but if you’d like to take it further and learn more, read on!

Shutter speed effects (tripod and Light Trails mode only)

In Light Trails mode, the app combines many shorter exposure photos into one image. If the shutter speed is very fast, then you’ll get a “gap” between each exposure. You can use this to get different effects with fireworks. Here’s a comparison so you can see how it works:

Left: a slower 1/11s exposure time, resulting in solid streaks of fire. Right: a fast 1/150s exposure, resulting in a ‘dashed’ effect.

If you reduce exposure to get the dashed effect, you might need to increase ISO to brighten the image.

Recording a Time Lapse video

Time lapse videos of fireworks can look spectacular, especially if you’re recording with a tripod (or can keep the iPhone still). Simply turn on time lapse mode, and turn on Light Trails if you’re using a tripod. You can adjust the recording speed and quality too.

Using the Interval Programmer to take a series of photos (tripod and handheld)

This is a useful technique that works for both tripod and handheld photography. Instead of taking a photo when you see something good (and often missing the shot!), try taking a sequence of photos. With a sequence, you can quickly pick the best ones and delete the rest.

NightCap includes an interval programmer that will do this for you automatically. Tap the Settings button to show the settings screen, and turn on the Interval Programmer: